Immunohistochemical Expression of Autophagy-Related Proteins in Advanced Tubular Gastric Adenocarcinomas and Its Implications
In neoplastic conditions, autophagy may act as a tumor suppressor avoiding the accumulation of damaged proteins and organelles or as a mechanism of cell survival promoting the tumor growth. Although ultrastructural analysis has been considered the traditional method to identify autophagy, some prote...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Cancers |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/11/3/389 |
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| author | Antonio Ieni Roberta Cardia Giuseppe Giuffrè Luciana Rigoli Rosario Alberto Caruso Giovanni Tuccari |
| author_facet | Antonio Ieni Roberta Cardia Giuseppe Giuffrè Luciana Rigoli Rosario Alberto Caruso Giovanni Tuccari |
| author_sort | Antonio Ieni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In neoplastic conditions, autophagy may act as a tumor suppressor avoiding the accumulation of damaged proteins and organelles or as a mechanism of cell survival promoting the tumor growth. Although ultrastructural analysis has been considered the traditional method to identify autophagy, some proteins such as microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3A/B), Beclin-1 and activating molecule in Beclin-1-regulated autophagy protein-1 (AMBRA-1) may be considered as markers of autophagy-assisted cancerogenesis. Herein, we analyzed a cohort of advanced tubular gastric adenocarcinomas by the abovementioned immunohistochemical antisera; through immunohistochemistry, autophagy (A-IHC) is diagnosed when at least two out of the three proteins are positive in the samples. Immunostaining for LC3A/B, Beclin-1, and AMBRA-1 was exclusively found in neoplastic elements, but not in surrounding stromal cells. In detail, LC3A/B and Beclin 1 were expressed both in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus of the cancer cells, while AMBRA-1 was preferentially localized in the nucleus, mainly in high grade cases. LC3A/B, Beclin 1, and AMBRA-1 expression were positive in 18 (56.2%), 17 (53.1%), and 12 (37.5%) cases, respectively. The sensibility and specificity of LC3A/B and Beclin-1 ranged from 81.25% to 93.75%, with high efficiency (90.63%) for Beclin-1. Moreover, the ultrastructural autophagic index (AI) was also available in all cases. All high-grade cases documented a Ki-67 labelling index (LI) ≥ 30%, even if three low-grade cases revealed a high Ki-67 value; p53 positivity was encountered in 21/32 (65.62%) of cases, independently of the tumor grade. A statistically significant correlation among A-IHC and clinicopathological parameters such as grade, stage, clinical course, Ki-67 LI and AI was revealed. Univariate analysis documented a significant p-value for the same autophagic variables. Additionally, multivariate survival analysis identified the grade, AI and A-IHC as independent significant variables. Finally, the overall survival curves of all cases of gastric tubular adenocarcinoma were greatly dependent on A-IHC. Therefore, we suggest that autophagic-related proteins might be considered promising predictive prognostic factors of advanced gastric cancer. Further investigations may be required to determine whether new targeted therapies should be addressed to autophagy-related proteins. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:22:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-63a54fd54edb4d9e8eda296602cf0edd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6694 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:22:46Z |
| publishDate | 2019-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Cancers |
| spelling | doaj.art-63a54fd54edb4d9e8eda296602cf0edd2023-08-02T05:02:47ZengMDPI AGCancers2072-66942019-03-0111338910.3390/cancers11030389cancers11030389Immunohistochemical Expression of Autophagy-Related Proteins in Advanced Tubular Gastric Adenocarcinomas and Its ImplicationsAntonio Ieni0Roberta Cardia1Giuseppe Giuffrè2Luciana Rigoli3Rosario Alberto Caruso4Giovanni Tuccari5Department of Human Pathology in Adult and Developmental Age “Gaetano Barresi”, Section of Pathology, University of Messina, 98123 Messina, ItalyDepartment of Human Pathology in Adult and Developmental Age “Gaetano Barresi”, Section of Pathology, University of Messina, 98123 Messina, ItalyDepartment of Human Pathology in Adult and Developmental Age “Gaetano Barresi”, Section of Pathology, University of Messina, 98123 Messina, ItalyDepartment of Human Pathology in Adult and Developmental Age “Gaetano Barresi”, Section of Pathology, University of Messina, 98123 Messina, ItalyDepartment of Human Pathology in Adult and Developmental Age “Gaetano Barresi”, Section of Pathology, University of Messina, 98123 Messina, ItalyDepartment of Human Pathology in Adult and Developmental Age “Gaetano Barresi”, Section of Pathology, University of Messina, 98123 Messina, ItalyIn neoplastic conditions, autophagy may act as a tumor suppressor avoiding the accumulation of damaged proteins and organelles or as a mechanism of cell survival promoting the tumor growth. Although ultrastructural analysis has been considered the traditional method to identify autophagy, some proteins such as microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3A/B), Beclin-1 and activating molecule in Beclin-1-regulated autophagy protein-1 (AMBRA-1) may be considered as markers of autophagy-assisted cancerogenesis. Herein, we analyzed a cohort of advanced tubular gastric adenocarcinomas by the abovementioned immunohistochemical antisera; through immunohistochemistry, autophagy (A-IHC) is diagnosed when at least two out of the three proteins are positive in the samples. Immunostaining for LC3A/B, Beclin-1, and AMBRA-1 was exclusively found in neoplastic elements, but not in surrounding stromal cells. In detail, LC3A/B and Beclin 1 were expressed both in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus of the cancer cells, while AMBRA-1 was preferentially localized in the nucleus, mainly in high grade cases. LC3A/B, Beclin 1, and AMBRA-1 expression were positive in 18 (56.2%), 17 (53.1%), and 12 (37.5%) cases, respectively. The sensibility and specificity of LC3A/B and Beclin-1 ranged from 81.25% to 93.75%, with high efficiency (90.63%) for Beclin-1. Moreover, the ultrastructural autophagic index (AI) was also available in all cases. All high-grade cases documented a Ki-67 labelling index (LI) ≥ 30%, even if three low-grade cases revealed a high Ki-67 value; p53 positivity was encountered in 21/32 (65.62%) of cases, independently of the tumor grade. A statistically significant correlation among A-IHC and clinicopathological parameters such as grade, stage, clinical course, Ki-67 LI and AI was revealed. Univariate analysis documented a significant p-value for the same autophagic variables. Additionally, multivariate survival analysis identified the grade, AI and A-IHC as independent significant variables. Finally, the overall survival curves of all cases of gastric tubular adenocarcinoma were greatly dependent on A-IHC. Therefore, we suggest that autophagic-related proteins might be considered promising predictive prognostic factors of advanced gastric cancer. Further investigations may be required to determine whether new targeted therapies should be addressed to autophagy-related proteins.http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/11/3/389autophagyimmunohistochemistrygastric cancertubular adenocarcinomagrading |
| spellingShingle | Antonio Ieni Roberta Cardia Giuseppe Giuffrè Luciana Rigoli Rosario Alberto Caruso Giovanni Tuccari Immunohistochemical Expression of Autophagy-Related Proteins in Advanced Tubular Gastric Adenocarcinomas and Its Implications Cancers autophagy immunohistochemistry gastric cancer tubular adenocarcinoma grading |
| title | Immunohistochemical Expression of Autophagy-Related Proteins in Advanced Tubular Gastric Adenocarcinomas and Its Implications |
| title_full | Immunohistochemical Expression of Autophagy-Related Proteins in Advanced Tubular Gastric Adenocarcinomas and Its Implications |
| title_fullStr | Immunohistochemical Expression of Autophagy-Related Proteins in Advanced Tubular Gastric Adenocarcinomas and Its Implications |
| title_full_unstemmed | Immunohistochemical Expression of Autophagy-Related Proteins in Advanced Tubular Gastric Adenocarcinomas and Its Implications |
| title_short | Immunohistochemical Expression of Autophagy-Related Proteins in Advanced Tubular Gastric Adenocarcinomas and Its Implications |
| title_sort | immunohistochemical expression of autophagy related proteins in advanced tubular gastric adenocarcinomas and its implications |
| topic | autophagy immunohistochemistry gastric cancer tubular adenocarcinoma grading |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/11/3/389 |
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